Recently in recipes Category

Hey there. I hope you had a great 4th of July holiday/weekend. Some wonderful friends invited us up to their place for a BBQ/potluck and we had a great time catching up with them and meeting some new people – finally able to meet some of the creators of blogs I’ve been reading! Since it was a potluck and I didn’t have time for my usual pot of chili, I made a corn salsa I found online at on the Food Network site. It is the perfect dish to make during the summer, when corn is so fresh and delicious! The original recipe is here and my slightly altered version below.

(Non-spicy) Corn Salsa
2 cups fresh cooked corn*
24 cherry tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions: Chop the tomatoes then toss them in a colander with ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Let drain for 10-15 minutes. When done, combine the corn, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, lime and olive oil. Mix well. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

* Note: I usually get about ½ a cup of corn per cob, depending on the size. If you’re not sure how to cut the kernels off corn, watch this. You can also use thawed frozen corn.

I don't know if it is because I am pregnant or because this stew is so delicious (probably a bit of both) but I have been craving Dave Lieberman's (from the Food Channel) Mexican Chicken Stew every day! I have been making a big pot each week and enjoying it all week long! However, I do modify the recipe when it comes to the jalapenos. I don’t want it really hot so instead of chopping it into the stew I quarter the peppers (don’t forget to wear gloves!) and let them simmer in the stew to give it a little flavor but not too much heat. I remove the peppers just before adding the rice. Give this one a try! Yum!

Yesterday I thought I would honor the first day of autumn by baking some wonderful smelling cookies! It was such a Martha Stewart moment....Okay, truth be known I had some disgustingly black bananas that had to be used ASAP and I was tired of banana bread. So I found a basic recipe for banana oatmeal cookies at cooks.com and changed it a bit to fit the ingredients I had in the kitchen. The cinnamon and nutmeg smelled so good as they were baking and it was a great change of pace from regular ol' banana bread. (Needless to say, they were a big hit with Brian and Bella!)The cookies were pretty moist (my favorite type) although I would like to experiment with making them crunchier. In the meantime, try them yourself and let me know your own variation!

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter, margarine shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. banana (about 2-3)
1 1/2 c. flour
1 3/4 c. quick oatmeal
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 - 1 c. raisons (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Add egg. Add banana. Mix well. In separate bowl mix dry ingredients. Mix well. Add the two mixtures together. Add raisons. Drop tablespoon-sized portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. (This is a soft cookie so bake a little longer for a crunchier cookie.) Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Happy baking! b.